I’ve had tendinopathy in my elbows for several years. “Tendinopathy” is a general term that includes both tendinitis and tendinosis. Tendinitis is an acute condition that involves inflammation of the tendon, resulting from a sudden injury or overuse; tendinosis is chronic degeneration of the tendon, which can include small tears in the tissue but little to no inflammation, and pain that increases during activity. Tendons attach to two points at the elbow: the lateral epicondyle and the medial epicondyle. Pain at the former is referred to as tennis elbow; pain at the latter is golfer’s elbow. I have both in both arms. At this point, my elbows are well-rested and exhibit no inflammation, so I’d lean toward calling it all tendinosis. The last time I spoke to my doctor about it, she said my treatment options were a cortisone shot (one and done); TENEX surgery (minimally invasive, with ~50% success rate); or physical therapy (exercise).
Since I’m not currently suffering greatly from it, which I would refer to as “between flare-ups”, I’m opting for the exercise approach. I will strengthen and stretch all the muscles in my forearm, including extensors, and with a little luck, I’ll never again be sidelined with elbow pain. My first priority will be prehab and rehab. As long as that goes well, I’ll also try to build some additional strength. I’ll do a bit of experimentation and then post the program I’m doing. I tested myself with a hand dynamometer on the day that I’m posting this, and squeezed 157.0 lbs. That’s my baseline.
